Noise reduction housing for a can bodymaker

ABSTRACT

The housing provides a maximum of accessibility and visibility into the machine for easy maintenance and adjustment. Sound containing panels are placed onto an angle iron framework mounted close to the machine. Most of the panels are easily lifted off or are hinged for access to the machine. Some of the panels have strips of resilient sound absorptive material about their edges to isolate vibration. The infeed hopper which feeds can body blanks is acoustically isolated. A blower is used to eliminate oil spray and mist buildup in the machine by exhausting air from the machine. This negative pressure causes the panels to nest snugly against the machine framework and eliminate noise leaks.

United States Patent Mahajan et al.

[ Jan. 14, 1975 [54] NOISE REDUCTION HOUSING FOR A CAN BODYMAKER [75]Inventors: Gautam K. Mahajan, Chicago;

Robert A. Suthard, Woodridge, both of Ill.

[73] Assignee: Continental Can Company, Inc.,

New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Mar. 20, 1974 [21] Appl. No.2 452,896

[52] US. Cl. 181/33 K, 113/1 R [51] Int. Cl E04b 1/99 [58] Field ofSearch 113/1 R, 7 R; 181/33 K, 181/33 A 56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,173,538 2/1916 Roberts 181/33 A 2,701,618 2/1955Montgomery. 181/33 K 2,808,122 10/1957 Meyers 181/33 K 3,018,991 [[1962Slayter 181/33 A 3,276,539 10/1966 Dear et a1. 181/33 K Lebeau l8l/33 KMahajan et al. l8l/33 K [5 7 ABSTRACT The housing provides a maximum ofaccessibility and visibility into the machine for easy maintenance andadjustment. Sound containing panels are placed onto an angle ironframework mounted close to the machine. Most of the panels are easilylifted off or are hinged for access to the machine. Some of the panelshave strips of resilient sound absorptive material about their edges toisolate vibration. The infeed hopper which feeds can body blanks isacoustically isolated. A blower is used to eliminate oil spray and mistbuildup in the machine by exhausting air from the machine. This negativepressure causes the panels to nest snugly against the machine frameworkand eliminate noise leaks.

13 Claims, S DraWing Figures PATENTED JAN 1 M975 sum 1 or 2 NOISEREDUCTION HOUSING FOR A CAN BODYMAKER This invention relates to improvedapparatus reducing the transmitted sound level of a machine to anoperator. More specifically, this invention is a noise reductionenclosure for a can bodymaker.

Passage of the Walsh-Healy Act and the Occupational Health and SafetyAct has imposed restrictions on the level of industrail noise to which aworkman may be exposed. In the prior art, many devices have been used toenclose noise producing machines. By and large, such devices have beenin the nature of a soundproof room or an enclosure having few if anyentrances. As a general thing the shell of the enclosure has been linedwith sound absorbing materials. Together, the shell plus the materialsform a sound barrier. The enclosure and the sound absorbing materialstotally surround the machine and form a sort of protective shell aboutthe machine as well as absorb the sound emanating from the machine.Sound reduction may be further accomplished by engineering and redesignof the machine itself. In many cases this is difficult or impossible toachieve without considerable reduction-to the efficiency of the organicmachine. Thus a sound reduction enclosure becomes necessary. Readyaccess to the interior of the enclosure is also required. From time totime the machine, which may be a bodymaker, for example, requiresattention to insure smooth operation and the machine tender must put hishands and arms inside the working area of the machine. If the machinetender must work inside an enclosure and then he is incapacitated forany reason, he cannot be seen or heard by anyone in the vicinity. Forthis reason each time a machine which is located in such an enclosureneeds repair two men are required so that if one man is incapacitatedthe other may help.

It is a principal object of our invention to provide a noise reductionkit having ready accessibility to a bodymaker machine.

It is an object of our invention to suppress noise generated by a canbodymaker.

An object of this device is to provide noise attenuation panelsconnected through seals to a framework built around a machine.

It is an object of our invention to collect fumes and oil mist, etc.,and exhaust them through a filter and thus operate as an anti-pollutiondevice.

The above and other objects, teachings and advantages of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the followingdescriptions, reference being made to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the right side and rear of ourenclosure showing the rear of the enclosure with the large slidablepanel in open position in phantom lines.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the left side and front of theenclosure with the large hinged panel and front smaller hinged panelsshown in open position in phantom lines. Flat removable panels are alsoshown in removed position and in phantom lines.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing details of hinged andremovable panels and sound insulation taken along section Line 3--3 ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing details of the insulationof the enclosure from the floor taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing details of the can blankfeed hopper taken along section line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

The enclosure 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a series of noise attentuating oreliminating panels fastened to a framework built around the canbodymaker. Some of the panels are removable, for example, Panel 1 (FIG.1). Other panels 2 and 3 (FIG. 1) are hinged and may be opened, likedoors. Still another panel 4 is slidable for opening. There are openingsin the enclosure to allow for hand-wheel shafts, ducts for a notcher'sstation chips, openings for side seamer support rails, a hole for sideseamer drive shaft, an opening for a formed can body to exit before ittransfers to a side seamer, and an exhaust to a blower 5 for evacuatingair out of the enclosure.

In this enclosure the panels are made of a material having thecharacteristic of low sound transmissibility such as a steel structuralmaterial of suitable thickness. Panels may be made entirely of atransparent high impact strength material such as Plexiglas" or Lexan,or may be made partially of a transparent material having a steel borderfor stiffness. As a practical matter the sliding panel 4 shown in FIG. Iis the only one which can be made entirely of Plexiglas" or Lexan"because of the rigidity requirement. Each of the removable panels 6, forexample, and hinged panels have a lip 7 (FIG. 3) along its periphery.This lip 7 extends away from the panel surface 8 inwardly at a rightangle. Each lip 7 serves a triple function. Lip 7 helps to hold the sealor sealing material 9 in place. It also acts to reduce noisetransmission through the air path between the panel 6 and the rest ofthe enclosure 10. Lip 7 blocks this path and acts to reduce noiseleakage. Lastly, lip 7 around the edge of a panel stiffens the panel.This eliminates the need to add extra thickness of material for purposeof stiffness.

The exterior surface of enclosure 10 (FIGS. 1 and 2), of which panels 6are a part, is supported by structural members such as angle iron. Thesestructural members are tied together by cross braces.

A supporting angle iron member 11 (FIG. 4) is mounted around theperiphery of the enclosure at the floor 12. Vertical supporting members13 (FIG. 1) are attached to this supporting horizontal angle iron 11 andare attached to other structural members.

A seal 14 is located between the horizontal element 15 of the angle ironand floor 12. Each seal 14 is made of a resilient material. Since theresilient material rests upon floor 12, the enclosure panels 16 andangle iron 11 do not actually touch the floor 12. The seal 14 preventsnoise from leaking through air gaps which might have existed between theangle iron horizontal element 15 and floor 12. Since the seal 14 is madeof a resilient material it acts as a vibration isolator as well as anacoustic seal and serves to block passage of air. The acoustic sealoperates as a vibration isolator because the machine in its normaloperation causes floor 12 to vibrate. If the vibration from floor 12were transmitted upwardly through the angle irons, framework, and panelsof the housing the acoustic efficiency of these panels would drop verysignificantly because of the coincidence effect. Another advantage ofthese seals is that thee manufacturing tolerances on the components canbe high since the seals will swell to fill gaps.

When blower 5 is in operation air and any matter in suspension isexhausted from the interior of the enclosure. The panels are pulledtightly against the rims by the vacuum in the interior of the enclosureand the sealing effect of the resilient material located around eachpanel is enhanced.

The perspective view of the left side and front of the enclosure of FIG.2 shows in the foreground the infeed hopper 17 with body blanks 18standing in the hopper 17 up to the highest possible level. This infeedhopper 17 is made adjustable in size so that can body blanks 1-8 ofvarying size may be fed through the infeed hopper 17 into the canbodymaker. The four columns 19-22 of the infeed hopper 17 are each madeof a sort of angle iron. Each column of the infeed hopper is mounted ata corner of the blank and in this fashion holds the blank longitudinallyin place but allows the blank to slide vertically downward in its stack.Each column is mounted adjustably so that it may be moved sideways toallow the stacking of body blanks of varying sizes.

Each of the columns 19-22 is mounted upon a bar 23 (FIG. attached to theframe of the machine (not shown). The columns 19-22 slide upon the bars23 and may be moved along the bars relative to each other to adjust tovarying sizes of can body blanks. Since ach of these columns 19-22 is apotential vibration source it is necessary to isolate each column fromthe exterior hood 24 of the cover 25 which is part of the enclosure 10.A felt or rubber gasket 26 (FIG. 5) is mounted between supporting anglemember 19, 22 and the hood 24 which covers a cut-out made in the lateralpanel 27 shown in FIG. 2. Sound is generated in the area (FIG. 5) to theleft between the hood 24 and the support angle member 19. The gasket 27performs the function of acoustically isolating panel 25 from columns19, 22. Further, the parts do not have to fit together with highprecision to avoid noise leakage because the gasket 26 is locatedbetween the hood 24 and angle members, 19,

22. The hood 24 is replaceable and is made in varying sizes to fitvarying sizes of can body blanks.

As indicated in the description above, the columns 19, 22 are attachedto the machine and vibrateto some extent. A felt or rubber gasket member28 is mounted in four separate sections about the stack 18 so as to cutdown on the amount of noise which comes out through the stack area. Thisgasket is glued to the surfaces between the columns. Finally, a felt orrubber gasket 29 is mounted below the liftable door 30 which is itselfmade of two sheets 31, 32 of transparent material isolated from eachother by a rubber gasket 33 around their periphery and a dead air space34 in between.

The column of blanks 18 (FIG. 2) is taken away one by one into the canbody forming and seaming machine. Air to cool the drive motor enters inthrough the area 35. Pieces (notches") cut from the body blanks continueto be removed from the bodymaker machine by the existing system. In thelower right front ofthe view shown in FIG. 2, a cut away view of a duct36 is shown through which the notches are pulled, by a blower, to acollection bin (not shown). Six removable panels 1, 6 and 37-40 areshown in phantom lines in a removed position. Each of these panels has alip 7 around it as shown in FIG. 2 with gasket material 9 mounted justinside the lip. The panel 37 is held in place by toggle bolts 41 oroptionally by operation of gravity as shown by panels 6, 38 and 40. Aspanel 6 (FIGS. 2 and 3) for example, moves downwardly it is forcedagainst the rim 42, because the studs 43, 44 bear against the inclinedsurfaces 45, 46. Panels 38 and operate in a similar fashion. Panel 40 ismounted on the opposite side of the enclosure from panel 6. It is notseen in FIG. 1 because of the jog in the enclosure walls.

Some of the advantages of this enclosure are ease of accessibility tothe bodymaker, viewability of the bodymakers essential moving partsthrough transparent panels, a blower to exhaust oil mist and to cool themotor, and safety shielding.

The foregoing is a description of the illustrative embodiment of theinvention, and it is the applicants intention in the appended claimsto'cover all forms which fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a bodymaker having a can body station with noiseproducing elements:

an enclosure for said bodymaker having two side walls and having topfront and back walls which re formed in part of sound reflecting surfacepanels resting against said enclosure, and

a blower mounted in a wall of said enclosure for blowing fluid out ofthe interior of said enclosure whereby a negative pressure is generatedin said enclosure and said surface panels are pulled against theenclosure to form a seal against the escape of sound and vapor from saidenclosure.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said enclosure furthercomprises:

a framework for supporting the walls and surface panels of saidenclosure, and

resilient material mounted between said framework and the floor uponwhich the bodymaker and enclosure rests to form a seal between saidframework and said floor whereby vibration is impeded from passing fromsaid floor to said framework.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which said enclosure furrthercomprises:

resilient material mounted between said framework and said panels forcushioning said panels against said framework and hindering thetransmission of sound from said framework to said panels.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said enclosure furthercomprises:

a series of compartments having outer and inner walls, the outer wallsof the compartments forming at least some of the exterior walls of saidenclosure.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which said enclosure furthercomprises:

a passageway through a wall of said enclosure for housing an infeedhopper.

acoustic sealing means extending about said passageway for obstructingthe passage of sound from the interior of said enclosure to the exteriorof said enclosure.

6. The combination-set forth in claim 5 in which said acoustic sealingmeans comprises:

vertical columns extending through said passageway,

means for moving said columns laterally to fit various sizes of bodyblanks, and

acoustic absorptive gasket members to snugly tit the outside edges of astack of body blanks between said vertical columns whereby noise frominside the enclosure is prevented from escaping.

7. An acoustic enclosure for a bodymaker including:

a strip of resilient material extending along the lower surface of ahorizontal element of the angle iron member which extends around theperiphery of said enclosure and said strip extends between saidhorizontal element and the floor upon which said enclosure rests wherebysaid bottom frame members are solated from the floor vibration caused bysaid bodymaker and gaps between said frame members and said floor arefilled to prevent noise leak.

8. A sound proof enclosure for a bodymaker having noise producingelements comprising:

a plurality of flat panels mounted to surround said machine comprising:

a plurality of panels formed into an enclosure having a top, front,sides and back for the containing of sound inside said enclosure;

a framework having angle irons mounted inside said enclosure and actingto support said enclosure from the floor strips of resilient materialmounted between said angle irons and the floor to form an acoustic sealand a vibration isolator between said floor and said enclosure.

9. A sound proof enclosure as set forth in claim 8 in which said panelscomprise:

hinged panels mounted to swing about a plurality of horizontal membersof said enclosure framework in the area where the noise producingelements and can blank feed mechanism is found to provide ease of accessfrom the exterior.

10. A sound proof enclosure as set forth in claim 8 in which said panelscomprise;

a plurality of flat panels being mounted adjacent each other to form anuninterrupted surface whereby a barrier is formed against the passage ofsound from said bodymaker to the exterior of the enclosure.

11. A sound proof enclosure as set forth in claim 9,

in which said hinged panels further comprise;

a rectangular panel,

a lip about the margin of the rectangular panel where it abuts fixedpanels and extending from the panel surface toward the fixed panel,

a strip of sound deadening resilient material such as felt and of athickness greater than the lip mounted inside the panel surface andadjacent to said lip whereby when said hinged panel rests against saidfixed panels said strip lies between said hinged and fixed panel andprevents actual contact between said panels thus preventing soundtransmission by direct contact between said panels and the escape ofsound and vapor from said enclosure.

12. An enclosure as set forth in claim 8 comprising further:

a first bar and a second bar extending laterally across said bodymaker,parallel to each other and spaced from each other,

a first column mounted upon said first bar and slidable thereon,

a second column spaced from said first column and mounted upon saidfirst bar and slidable thereon,

a third column mounted upon said second bar and slidable thereon,

a fourth column spaced from said third column and mounted upon saidsecond bar and slidable thereon, whereby said first, second, third andfourth columns guide a stack of body blanks into said body processing,hood means extending adjacent said first and second column means,

first resilient gasket means mounted between said hood and said firstand second columns whereby said resilient gasket means isolates the hoodfrom vibrations of the first and second columns.

13. An enclosure as set forth in claim 12 comprising further:

a cover mounted about said columns to impede noise from escaping fromthe enclosure,

a first flat gasket member mounted in the space between said first andsecond column and said cover and said stack of can body blanks,

a second flat gasket member mounted in the space between said second andthird column and said cover and said stack of can body blanks,

a third flat gasket member mounted in the space between said third andfourth columns and said cover and said stack, and

a fourth flat gasket member mounted in the space be tween said fourthand first columns and said cover and said stack whereby said first,second, third and fourth flat gasket means close open spaces betweensaid stack and said cover and inhibit the passage of sound from saidbodymaker out of said enclosure.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO.3,860,086

DATED January 14, 1975 I O Gautam K. Mahajan and Robert A. Suthard It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 1, line 10, change "industrail" to --industrial-; Col. 2, line 65,change "thee" to -.--the-; Col. 3, line 23, change "ach" to -each--;

line l7, change "re' to -are-;

line 35, change "furrther" to further--;

Signed and Scaled this thirteenth Day of January 1976 [SEAL] A ttest.

RUTH c. MASON c. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner of Patentsand Trademarks UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPATENT NO. 3,860,086 DATED January 14, 1975 iNVEN O I Gautam K. Mahajanand Robert A. Suthard It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

O Col. 1, line 10, change "industrail" to industrial;

Col. 2, line 65, change "thee" to -.--the-; Col. 3, line 23, change"ach" to --'-each-;

line l7, change "re" to --are-;

line 35, change "furrther" to -further; O

Signed and Sealed this thirte Day Of January 1976 [SEAL] Attest.

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner ofPatenlsand Trademarks

1. In combination with a bodymaker having a can body station with noiseproducing elements: an enclosure for said bodymaker having two sidewalls and having top front and back walls which re formed in part ofsound reflecting surface panels resting against said enclosure, and ablower mounted in a wall of said enclosure for blowing fluid out of theinterior of said enclosure whereby a negative pressure is generated insaid enclosure and said surface panels are pulled against the enclosureto form a seal against the escape of sound and vapor from saidenclosure.
 2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which saidenclosure further comprises: a framework for supporting the walls andsurface panels of said enclosure, and resilient material mounted betweensaid framework and the floor upon which the bodymaker and enclosurerests to form a seal between said framework and said floor wherebyvibration is impeded from passing from said floor to said framework. 3.The combination set forth in claim 2 in which said enclosure furrthercomprises: resilient material mounted between said framework and saidpanels for cushioning said panels against said framework and hinderingthe transmission of sound from said framework to said panels.
 4. Thecombination set forth in claim 1 in which said enclosure furthercomprises: a series of compartments having outer and inner walls, theouter walls of the compartments forming at least some of the exteriorwalls of said enclosure.
 5. The combination set forth in claim 4 inwhich said enclosure further comprises: a passageway through a wall ofsaid enclosure for housing an infeed hopper. acoustic sealing meansextending about said passageway for obstructing the passage of soundfrom the interior of said enclosure to the exterior of said enclosure.6. The combination set forth in claim 5 in which said acoustic sealingmeans comprises: vertical columns extending through said passageway,means for moving said columns laterally to fit various sizes of bodyblanks, and acoustic absorptive gasket members to snugly fit the outsideedges of a stack of body blanks between said vertical columns wherebynoise from inside the enclosure is prevented from escaping.
 7. Anacoustic enclosure for a bodymaker including: a strip of resilientmaterial extending along the lower surface of a horizontal element ofthe angle iron member which extends around the periphery of saidenclosure and said strip extends between said horizontal element and thefloor upon which said enclosure rests whereby said bottom frame membersare solated from the floor vibration caused by said bodymaker and gapsbetween said frame members and said floor are filled to prevent noiseleak.
 8. A sound proof enclosure for a bodymaker having noise producingelements comprising: a plurality of flat panels mounted to surround saidmachine comprising: a plurality of panels formed into an enclosurehaving a top, front, sides and back for the containing of sound insidesaid enclosure; a framework having angle irons mounted inside saidenclosure and acting to support said enclosure from the floor strips ofresilient material mounted between said angle irons and the floor toform an acoustic seal and a vibration isolator between said floor andsaid enclosure.
 9. A sound proof enclosure as set forth in claim 8 inwhich said panels comprise: hinged panels mounted to swing about aplurality of horizontal members of said enclosure framework in the areawhere the noise producing elements and can blank feed mechanism is foundto provide ease of access from the exterior.
 10. A sound proof enclosureas set forth in claim 8 in which said panels comprise; a plurality offlat panels being mounted adjacent each other to form an uninterruptedsurface whereby a barrier is formed against the passage of sound fromsaid bodymaker to the exterior of the enclosure.
 11. A sound proofenclosure as set forth in claim 9, in which said hinged panels furthercomprise; a rectangular panel, a lip about the margin of the rectangularpanel where it abuts fixed panels and extending from the panel surfacetoward the fixed panel, a strip of sound deadening resilient materialsuch as felt and of a thickness greater than the lip mounted inside thepanel surface and adjacent to said lip whereby when said hinged panelrests against said fixed panels said strip lies between said hinged andfixed panel and prevents actual contact between said panels thuspreventing sound transmission by direct contact between said panels andthe escape of sound and vapor from said enclosure.
 12. An enclosure asset forth in claim 8 comprising further: a first bar and a second barextending laterally across said bodymaker, parallel to each other andspaced from each other, a first column mounted upon said first bar andslidable thereon, a second column spaced from said first column andmounted upon said first bar and slidable thereon, a third column mountedupon said second bar and slidable thereon, a fourth column spaced fromsaid third column and mounted upon said second bar and slidable thereon,whereby said first, second, third and fourth columns guide a stack ofbody blanks into said body processing, hood means extending adjacentsaid first and second column means, first resilient gasket means mountedbetween said hood and said first and second columns whereby saidresilient gasket means isolates the hood from vibrations of the firstand second columns.
 13. An enclosure as set forth in claim 12 comprisingfurther: a cover mounted about said columns to impede noise fromescaping from the enclosure, a first flat gasket member mounted in thespace between said first and second column and said cover and said stackof can body blanks, a second flat gasket member mounted in the spacebetween said second and third column and said cover and said stack ofcan body blanks, a third flat gasket member mounted in the space betweensaid third and fourth columns and said cover and said stack, and afourth flat gasket member mounted in the space between said fourth andfirst columns and said cover and said stack whereby said first, second,third and fourth flat gasket means close open spaces between said stackand said cover and inhibit the passage of sound from said bodymaker outof said enclosure.